


Generations

by Uniasus



Category: Frozen (2013), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Family Trees, Gen, Imaginary Friends, Magic Powers, huge span of time covered, learned more history from this than I did AP World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-20
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-16 09:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1342816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uniasus/pseuds/Uniasus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some talents skip a generation. Or 27.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Elsa

It was Anna's voice through the new bedroom door two months later that had Elsa fully understanding what the Troll King had meant. It was the first real snowfall and her younger sister was asking about building a snowman. Anna had no idea that Elsa had powers, her memories having been altered. 

Anna wanted to play, and even though Elsa had control for the most part over her powers she didn't dare open the door. And that hurt. Because her sister wasn't scared of her like she should be, instead she was lonely. That was an aliment in Elsa's power to cure, but fear kept her back. She couldn't risk it.

The Troll King had saved her sister's life, but in the process had stolen their connection.

Despite being only eight, Elsa knew she would have made the same choice. Her sister was everything, and if she had to give up seeing Anna's smiles for her younger sibling to be able to smile, so be it. But it hurt, it hurt so much, hearing Anna's voice through the door. It sounded as if though Anna remembered the fun they'd had together and she didn't except fun of any sort to follow as long as Elsa was behind the door.

It wasn't fair Anna had to be punished too, this was all Elsa's fault.

She told Anna to go away, her ears pressed to the door as she listened to the five year old walk away. But before Anna had gone three steps Elsa heard their mom greet her and all of Anna's sadness had disappeared from her voice when she asked “Do you want to build a snowman?”

“Of course, every day!” the queen answered.

The voices drifted away, sounding happy, and Elsa breathed in relief. Anna would be okay. 

There was a knock on her door and in slipped her father. He pulled Elsa into a hug. “How are you doing today?”

“I miss Anna.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

He directed her through her breathing exercises and those involved with making snow piles. Practice, both at controlling her emotions and her powers was something she needed to do everyday. After lunch, her mother could come in to teach her more traditional lessons on history and letters, but the mornings were always about keeping her secret. 

Her father left to gather lunch from the kitchen. Elsa climbed up onto the window sill. Anna and the servant's children were no longer outside, but she could see the results of their play. There were a smattering of snow angles, small trenches and messy bootprints that hinted at a snowball fight, as well as a few outlines where someone had been pushed down into the snow.

No snowman, but that was right. Snowmen were for the two of them. They shaped parts together and scripted dialogs. Elsa would never build another snowman, not without Anna, and it was nice to see that her sister had similar sentiments. 

But that didn't mean she had to be cooped up in this room by herself, her only company her parents. Anna had laughed today, shouldn't Elsa have that right too? Or at least have someone to talk to.

Not a snowman, but an iceman. 

Concentrating, she pictured three blocks of ice of different sizes. They grew from the floor in decreasing size. Ice wasn't snow, she could not sculpt a face, but she needed to give her creation something to personify him. 

Elsa scampered to her wardrobe and pulled out a short brown cloak. She tied it under the top ice block and took a step back. No, something was still missing. 

A name. The iceman needed a name. 

A foreign name, something that Anna was never going to use to name a creation or pet in the future because Elsa just knew this iceman was hers and hers alone, not just now but in the future. 

Jack.

She tried the name out in her mind, and then said it out loud. She liked the sound of it.

“Jack....Frost.”

“What's this?” Elsa whirled around to see her dad in the doorway, two bowls of hot soup on a tray in his hands. 

“I...this is Jack Frost. My friend.”  
The king shot the iceman a look Elsa couldn't read, but she figured when she was older she'd understand. “I'm glad to see you're practicing even without me.”

“Anna lives across the hall. I have to make sure I never hurt her again.”

“Yes, you do.”

* * *

Over the next year, Elsa worked on her fine control of ice. Jack couldn't stay as blocks of ice forever. In her dreams, he had legs and liked to dance around with a huge smile on face. She was determined to make the iceman in the center of her room look similar.

It took awhile, but she had done it. Jack Frost stood on bare feet on an ice platform near the end of her bed, face in a grin and messy hair in his eyes. He was taller and older than her, a protector on many levels. He would supervise her control lessons, echoing her father's praise. He would convince her to never open the door when Anna was outside. He would always, always remind her of what as at stake, protecting Anna's life. 

Elsa liked to imagine he protected her too. When she felt that her power was too strong, that it was going to get loose, there would be a solid chest at her back and cold hands on her wrists whispering to tell her to calm down. But once in while, she could feel a grin on his face as it pressed against her cheek. 

_Let it go. Don't be afraid of your powers. You can create beautiful things with it. You can have fun._

That was Jack, always talking about fun in her mind. The Troll King had left the fun in Anna's memories, because feeling joy was more important than feeling scared or having to deal with Elsa's secret. Jack embodied that. He was always making her smile.

There was a good deal of snow on the ground. Elsa walked over to the window, she was too big now to fit on the sill, but was also now tall enough to see down into the courtyard without standing on her tip toes. 

There, standing in the corner of the garden, was a snowman receiving a carrot nose from Anna. 

No!

That wasn't allowed! Anna couldn't make a snowman without her, it wasn't right. Elsa had promised to never do it, and she had thought Anna had too, but apparently not. It was a lopsided snowman, no where good as Olaf. But that wasn't the point. Elsa felt betrayed.

She gripped the window sill and ice exploded along it from her hands. She jumped away in shock. Elsa hadn't called upon her powers, hadn't wanted to, but they came anyway and that scared her.

“Jack!” She whirled to the crude ice carving near her bed, where he always stood. “Jack, I'm losing control!”

_You got angry, it happens to the best of us. Just breathe, calm down. It was a one time thing._

When her father came in a few minutes later, he quickly took in the scared look on Elsa's face and the sharp ice near the window. He put in an order that day for gloves and two days later when he slipped them on Elsa's hands she snuck a glance at Jack. His usual smile was missing, instead he was frowning.

* * *

Conceal became her favorite word. Conceal her emotions, conceal her hands, conceal her powers. Her fear that she would slip up again grew stronger every day. 

Jack tried to help her, but he kept giving advice opposite her father. 

_Yes Elsa, your emotions are triggering your powers. But that doesn't mean you have to hide them. Use them properly! Don't you remember? When you were happy you had control and played with Anna all the time._

“I almost killed her Jack, you're wrong.”

_That was an accident. An issue of timing, not losing control._

She ripped away from Jack's icy grasp, taking deep breaths to control the anger she could feel in her chest. 

_What happened to having fun?_

“I...there are more important things.” Safety for one. Elsa stepped away from Jack and set about getting dressed. Her parents were leaving in a little while, and she was expected to see them off.

She could see Jack's frown in her mind, hands on his hips and tapping a foot. To him, there was nothing more important than joy and laughter. Elsa suddenly had the thought that was a childish view of the world. Through the mirror on the wardrobe door, Elsa stared at the ice man she had created so long ago. Back then, he was to be her older brother and guardian. And he had been, for a time she supposed. But now she was older than him, had out grown him perhaps. 

She didn't need to listen to him any more.

Elsa finished dressing and then in an unusual show of control, iced a track from the foot of her bed to the far corner. The one that only sometimes got moonlight. She pushed Jack's statue into the corner.

For a second, their frowns matched and she could hear Jack's voice, full of sadness. _Don't ignore me._ He stretched out a hand towards her. Then Elsa blinked and all that was in front of her was the crude human form of ice, eyes not a pretty blue but ice hollows and with a mouth that was nothing more than a line she had picked at with a hair pin. His feet were planted, his hands didn't even have fingers. 

He looked so different than she had thought he did these past years. 

The floor under her feet creaked, and Elsa jumped back as she realized she had frozen the carpet without meaning too. She whirled around and fled from the room and Jack.

* * *

Anna was at her door again. It was the day of the funeral. Elsa could pick out words of courage, and her trying, and heard the desperate plea for Elsa to come out and hold Anna's hand during the service. 

But she couldn't. 

As soon as news of their parents death had reached her, Elsa's control over her powers, always tentative, snapped. She lamented their loss. She now had no advisers in how to hide or control her powers, how to rule, to live. Since Elsa had forbidden herself from seeing Anna much, her social life had revolved around her parents and Jack. The former of which were now dead, the later she now ignored. 

“Please Elsa,” Anna sobbed before leaving.

And Elsa couldn't take it, she snapped. Lost control. Ice bloomed from her body, covering the room in a thin layer and then it even started to snow. The wood of her furniture creaked in foreboding and then with a crash the door of her wardrobe, then one she always kept open, fell to the ground. 

Behind it was what she was hadn't been able to look at in weeks.

Jack Frost.

“You!” Elsa hissed, standing up and stalking forward. The ice platform Jack stood on cracked.  
“Where is your fun and smiles now? Where is your talk of embracing my emotions?”

Another crack, this time Jack's left hand fell off.

“You are nothing Jack Frost, but the fancies of a little girl. You cannot protect me from the world and you can't not protect the world from me. You cannot even protect yourself!”

More cracks, appearing through his legs and torso, with a large one appearing diagonally across his face. And then, Jack Frost shattered into tiny pieces. 

Elsa threw her hands up to protect her face. The ice was sharp, it cut through parts of her glove and stung her cheek.

The cuts on her hands would scar, faint lines that she'd only be able to see in the right light. But they didn't bother her, she always wore her gloves and so never looked at them.

##### 

It is two days after banishing Prince Hans and stopping trade with Weselton that Elsa had a chance to breath and relax by herself. Being Queen was more effort than she thought it would be, and in addition to the normal duties her mother had taken care of Elsa had to reverse the damage she had both physically and mentally wrought with her ice. 

Her people were happy the harbor was no longer frozen, and the children loved the open skating rink in the castle's main courtyard, but there were still loud whispers in the shadows. Did she really have control over her powers? What's to stop her from turning against them again next week, next month, next year?

And then there were her advisers. A few of them saw her talent as a military gift and wanted her to use it as such. Elsa refused. Her cyrokinesis was not a weapon. But as one lord put it, she may not view it as a war tool but other countries might. In hindsight, stopping trade with Weselton might have been a bad idea. 

But thought of war and trade and troublesome powers was for later. Now that she knew how to control them, through love, she didn't fear them any more. 

There was a knock on her door. So much for an afternoon to herself.

“Come in.”

Slowly, the handle turned and Elsa watched a head of red hair appear. Anna.

“I still can't believe it's unlocked.”

“Or that it can even open?” Elsa teased with a sad smile.

“Oh no, I knew that. I saw you at meals sometimes.”

Yes, at a table so large that they could stretch their arms across it and still not touch. Elsa made a note for a different table to be found for more personal meals.

“So,” Anna rocked back on her feet. “Do you wanna build a snowman?”

“In June?”

“Well, you can do it, can't you?”

Elsa opened her mouth to say of course, Anna and her had done it so many times before, but paused. Her sister now knew she had ice magic, but Elsa had no idea if her memories from before the accident had returned to normal. It's quite possible that Anna didn't know that most of the snowmen they had build together had been in the ballroom and not outside in natural snow.

She'd ask about Anna's memories later. Right now, she had free time and she dearly wanted to do nothing but have fun with her sister. It had been years. 

Fun...

For the first time since her parent's death Elsa's mind turned to Jack Frost. The iceman she had made and then destroyed. He had always talked about having fun, about using her emotions and not hiding from them with a smile. Maybe she should remake him, Olaf could use a friend. 

No, Jack Frost was from an old time, an unhappy time, even if he was the sole thing that brought her joy from time to time when she was younger. 

This was a time to have fun with Anna, not icemen she pretended that could talk.

“Elsa?”

“Sorry, just thinking.”

She smiled and let down her hair from the knot on the top of her head. “Let's go make that snowman.”

“Alright!”

Anna led them not to the main courtyard, but the small garden Elsa's room overlooked. Elsa laughed as she was led by the hand, and even though she knew it was impossible she could have sworn she felt Jack's hand around her other wrist to tag along for the fun. She looked up at the moon in the later afternoon sky, and for a reason she would never understood thought something that felt like a prayer.

_Jack Frost tried to help me, even if I didn't listen. I hope he can help other children in the future find the joy in life as well._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't fit it in the format of this fic, so I'm just gonna outright say it. The moon chose Jackson Overland to be Jack Frost for three reasons. One is because he saves his sister. Two is because his outlook is very similar to the Jack Frost of Elsa's imagination (and thus where he gets the name Jack Frost as opposed to something else when created). Third is, well, next chapter ^_~.


	2. Julia

Hannah slowly approached her great aunt across the rocking deck of the boat. Even in normal conditions, she didn't have sea legs, and trying to cross while on rough seas and pregnant was not an easy feet. Slow shuffles, that was the ticket, and she held on to everything nearby as a brace.

“Aunt Anna?”

Her aunt didn't turn to look at her, but that was okay. Arendelle was fast disappearing on the horizon and the old woman wasn't the only one to watch it disappear. They would never return. Arendelle was no longer, even though the royal family still survived. Hannah had been crowned queen less then a month ago, but her daughter Julia, once she was born, would never hold that title. She would forever be a princess.

“Yes, Hannah dear?”

“I don't know if I can do this.”

“This being?”

Lead a country, period. Her coronation had come too quickly, as had many queens before her. When Queen Elsa had been assassinated after her tenth year of reign, Anna had taken the helm of Arendelle, serving as Queen Regent until little Ronja reached majority. And then Ronja too had passed early. Hannah could remember her mother passing away all to quickly, lying sick in bed. The rumor had been poison, but there had been no hard evidence. 

Ever since Queen Elsa, Hannah's grandmother, had revealed her powers surrounding countries had been on edge. Weselton and the Southern Isles had waged war against Arendelle and lost, though Elsa's death the year after the war's end had often been blamed on them. And when Ronja had been crowned, worries of another Ice Queen had stirred not only those to countries to act again, but also enlist the aid of countries far to the south. The extra cold winter that had swept through Europe that year hadn't helped matters. 

And so Ronja had ruled a kingdom for only twenty five years, a kingdom which had been at war the entire time. Arendelle had slowly been losing its outer lying lands, and eventually the cost of war was so extreme that she could not take care of her subjects. They revolted, towns gave up without a fight, Arendelle became a kingdom of only one city on a cove.

Today, it was a kingdom in name only, for after Ronja's death and the scepter being placed in Hannah's hand, an invading force had stormed the city's walls and broke in. Loyal to the end, the citizens who had always praised Elsa and her power over ice and who loved her powerless descendents equally well had smuggled the royal family onto a boat. The hold was full of treasures, Arendelle still had some allies, they would be able to live a comfortable life. 

Hannah stared at the bit she could see of the castle. There was a lot of smoke. 

They would live a comfortable life, but they would never have a home again. She would never wake up to the sight of North Mountain or the glistening cove again. She would never see the Arendelle flag flapping over the gate. 

Hannah finally answered Anna's question. “I don't know if I can lead what is left of our people when Arendelle is gone. When I'm separated from our people. When I'm so sad.”

Anna turned to look at her. Her face was winkled, her back hunched, and her hair gray with age. She no longer looked like the painting in the hall of her as regent, but there was still a noble air around her. She was, as some of the town folk called her, the Queen-That-Never-Was, and Hannah wondered how Arendelle would have been different if Anna had been the elder daughter and not Elsa. 

Maybe she wouldn't be homeless on a boat.

“You haven't had time to learn this yet Hannah, but being a queen is more than making and enforcing laws or waging a war. It's about supporting the people for they are the backbone of a country. They provide the food, the trade, the soldiers. You then, must provide for them.”

“And how can I do that when I will be in England while they are here or scattered in throughout the region?”

“Provide for their souls. Preserve our values, our name, our legends. Even if the borders of Arendelle have disappeared, our culture has not. Keep that alive, and you will keep alive the spirit of Arendelle.”

“You want me to be a figure head for a culture, like how the Pope is for Christianity.” 

“The Pope doesn't meet most of his subjects and yet they still follow him.”

“He has a lot of help. Books and priests and churches.”

“Who's to say you don't? See if you can get stories of our country published, and your priests will be those who helped us escape and your churches their homes.”

“When you say smart things like that Aunt, it's hard to remember you were an impulsive girl who got engaged to a guy after only knowing him a few hours.”

Anna coughed into her hand. “Well, you don't have to publish that story.”

“Of course I do! The story about how Grandmother learned control over her powers is an important part of our culture, and as a cultural leader I would be amiss to not tell it.”

Anna scowled, but then smiled. “You'll do fine Hannah. We'll all be fine. Me, you, your siblings, your husband, your father, my children and their families, as well as Arendelle's people. You'll see. It'll be harder to be a mother.”

“I just hope we get to England before I give birth.”

* * *

“Princess Julia, please! This is the history of your country! It is important that you learn it.”

Julia scowled at the governess. “Arendelle is destroyed. I'm not a princess.”

“Just because you do not have a throne to sit on does not mean you are not royalty. Act like it! Sit up straight and pay attention to your studies!”

“You know what? No!” Julia slammed the book closed and ran out of the room before the governess could stop her. She didn't stop until she was in the royal gardens.

She didn't expect to see her mom sitting on bench, reading a book.

“Mom.”

“Julia, you should be in your lessons.”

With a sigh, the fourteen year old plopped down on the bench. “I don't like them. What's the point about learning about something that doesn't exist.”

Hannah closed her book with a slam. “Arendelle does exist. It might have changed, but it lives on through me and you. That makes us Arendelle, and you can't run away from that as easily as you run away from your lessons. It will never fade away, not while we are here and keep its stories alive.”

Julia rolled her eyes. She had heard a version of this speech before. Several times in fact. It didn't make a difference. The other kids still made fun of her. She wasn't the only princess at court, but she was the only one without a country. The other princesses liked to ignore her, making comments like 'if there's no country, there's no princess, so there's no one to talk to'.

Her lack of a kingdom was also getting in the way of her love life.

Prince George was sixteen, with the blonde hair most of his Swedish kin had. He also would not look at a lady who could not help strengthen political ties. Having no kingdom, Julia had no political anything to offer. 

She knew she would be lucky to wed an English lord. 

No first born princess did that.

So she couldn't be a princess.

Her mother touched her head and Julia looked up at her. “This isn't the life I wanted for you, Julia. I can't imagine this is easy for you, but if you think being Princess Julia of Arendelle is tough, trying being Queen Hannah of Arendelle.”

She hadn't thought of that.

Despite being fourteen, and old enough to no longer cuddle, she nestled into her mom's side. Hannah wrapped an arm around her and pulled her book over so it sat between them. It was the published tales of Arendelle's history and myth. Julia knew most of them by heart, as did Hannah, but despite her hatred of Arendelle's nonexistence Julia drew comfort from the familiar stories. 

“Shall I read aloud?” her mother asked.

“Can you do voices like Aunt Anna used to?”

“How about I do narration and you do the voices?”

“Okay.”

* * *

Julia was sitting next to her mother, both of them practicing needlework on a balcony in Hannah's suite, when the Queen of England strode into their room. Hastily, they both stood to curtsy and she responded. 

“Please, sit. I'm afraid I have some...news.”

One of the ladies in waiting brought over an extra chair and placed it beside Hannah.

“What type of news?” Queen Hannah asked and Julia could tell her mother didn't think it was positive. What a way to celebrate her sixteenth birthday. 

“It's Arendelle.”

“What of it?”

“I'm, I'm sorry Hannah. It was destroyed. There was a huge storm, and the waves were tall. Most of the city was destroyed, even the castle didn't escape destruction. Many of your people died, and the few who survived have been forced to move.”

“I glad people survived. I was about to order tea, join us?” 

“If it's not too much trouble.”

While the women talked, Julia first concentrated on her needle and then on her cup of tea. Arendelle, destroyed. Not just a fallen kingdom now, but a fallen city. A ruin. There were no more people.

She snuck a glance at her mother, whose face was court blank. Hannah had built her life around being a cultural leader of a people, but how could Julia take up that mantel when all aspects of that culture were gone. Even the Ancient Greeks and Romans had more than just stories. But now, it seemed like that was all Arendelle had.

Happy birthday to the princess who not only had a kingdom, but had no people. Happy birthday to the girl who despite having flowered for over a year was still not married. Happy birthday to the girl who saw no point to her life.

* * *

Julia couldn't believe her ears when her mom mentioned it. France. She had the chance to go to France. The Queen was going for a visit, and taking a number of her court. As a princess, Julia had the option to go. Hannah wasn't interested, Julia supposed her mother was still in mourning for Arendelle's who demise they had learned about only three weeks ago, so if Julia went she would be on her own.

Despite the nervousness that sank into her belly at the thought, she said yes. London was nice and all, but she wanted something new. She had to get away.

She needed to find her own life. Maybe it would be in France.

* * *

France started out different, not everyone knew that the Princess of Arendelle no longer had a kingdom and so lived off the treasury of an old one and the kindness of others. They learned quickly though, and Louis stopped paying attention to her.

She did however find solace in Cloe, the handmaiden assigned to her. She didn't have ladies in waiting like her mother did in London, or a regular maid, so none had come with her. Julia then was given Cloe for the duration of her stay. 

Cloe was quiet around others, but when Julia asked she would open up and talk about about the city. How beautiful it was, how full of life.

Julia wanted to visit for an evening. Cloe made it happen.

It was that night she meet William Overland. He was English, not French at all, but had lived in the country since he was seven and so had an accent. His father, Jackson Overland, was a ship owner whose vessels carried people to the New World and goods back from it. William then was in charge of selling the items. It, he, was fascinating.

* * *

“And this is the _Ariel_ ,” Will said, gesturing to a three mast ship across the dock. Unlike the first ship, _Marie_ , there was no gangplank allowing Will to take Julia on a tour of the second boat. She wasn't too worried about missing a walk about its decks, it didn't look any different aside from the paint. 

Instead, he listed off information about it's last cargo and Julia slipped her hand into his. She liked him, liked France, with it's lyrical language and love of food. 

When the court moved on, Julia stayed behind in the French palace. She had approval, and her mother's sad but supportive permission. Hannah wouldn't be completely alone. Her father might not have survived the trip to England, but her aunts, uncles, and cousins still flocked around Buckingham Palace.

* * *

A year after meeting Will, he proposed and she said yes. She didn't tell her mom, just slipped away from the palace the day of the wedding and didn't look back. Will didn't know she was Princess Julia of Arendelle, didn't know that he would technically be a prince. It was for the best, he had a happy life, she didn't, and so she would rather join his than have him join hers.

Julia could imagine the other young women's twitters, that she had married way below her status. She could also imagine her mother's tears.

* * *

It was when her first child was born, a boy Jackson named after his merchant grandfather and not any of his royal ancestors, that Julia decided she should write her mother a letter. She knew it wouldn't be enough, but hopefully she could explain a little bit. About how stifled court life was, and how heavy Arendelle's mantle was for it to not benefit anyone. About how she couldn't have a day go by without laughing ten times and smiling a hundred. About how Jack looked like her father.

* * *

Cloe would keep in touch from time to time, and near the due date of her second child gave the news that the English court was coming for a visit again. Queen Hannah would be attending as well, as along the northern border of France a small population of Arendelle's survivors had settled. 

The news surprised Julia, she hadn't assumed her people would keep together. Just like she had adjust to English life, they would assimilate with the countries they settled in. But with a group of her people, a few days travel away, and she felt a pang for the duty she left behind. A small bit of regret. 

When Cloe brought Hannah to the Overland home, her mom was stern and stiff. She talked about duty and cultural pride, about putting aside selfish desires, and pleaded with Julia to come back to London.

Julia said no, and never saw her mother again. 

But she had promised to pass on the stories.

* * *

She gave birth to a still born second son, named him Frederick, and then buried him. Will never got the chance to hold him, he was helping take the Maire to America. 

Depressed, from both her estrangement from Hannah and the lost child, her mother-in-law suggested Julia take a vacation. Cloe latched onto the idea and before Julia knew it she was in a small village and hearing Arendelle's language. 

Her skills were rusty, she had grown up surrounded by English and had only spoken Erken in her lessons or when when her mother insisted. Not at all for the past three years. The locals laughed, but appreciated her attempts, and insisted on showing her every part of Arendelle's culture. The stories she was quite familiar with, and was pleased to see every family had at least one copy of her mom's book. The food and dances however were a different story. Julia had been taught them, but like the language of Erken had never lived them.

It made her feel like a stranger. 

These were people she was supposed to rule, or at least keep strong and unite. She felt no connection to them, though they tried to force it. You speak like us, you know our stories, you share a name with our princess. 

They were a dying people, and soon the tales of Arendelle would be talked of like tales of Alexander the Great. 

She wanted no ties to them.

* * *

When Will finished mourning for Fredrick, Julia asked him about moving to the New World. To America. That's where history was happening. That's where new lives and new cultures were developing. That's where she could leave behind and forget Arendelle.

But Will just shook his head and said no. 

“What's wrong with France? Besides, the wilderness with it's savages and wild beasts is no place for a lady like you.”

No, it was a place where people went to escape prosecution like the Quakers. A place to start again.

She wanted both, to escape the ire of her mother that Julia could still feel and start away from Arendelle who was creeping closer in it's death. But she couldn't explain that to her husband. He didn't know.

* * *

Things changed when Olivia was five. Jackson the Elder was in the ground, his wife having proceeded him six months prior, and storms had destroyed all but one of the Overland ships. 

“If Ariel does not make it back to France, I do not know what we will do Julia.” Will confessed one night after she had put Jack and Olivia to bed. “We will starve this next winter, surely.”

“Since our lives rest with your ship, let's sail with it. We can live off of the passage fees in America, instead of using them to buy goods and risk Ariel being destroyed on the return trip. We could even sell her, once we get there.”

“It's a harsh journey. The sea has taken many lives.”

“I'm aware of that. But I still want to go.”

* * *

It wasn't a cold day, but the wind gave that impression. Julia made her way to the deck, no longer able to handle the stale air below. She wasn't surprised to see her children on the boat's bow, eleven year old Jack shielding five year old Olivia with his back. There was a book between them, and Jack was reading it out loud. 

As Julia got closer, she could hear the words on the wind. 

“Queen Elsa waved her hand and ice grew from the ground! She retreated, the lords and ladies chasing after her. 'Monster' screamed the Duke of Weselton and the Queen raced through the crowd of commoners, freezing the fountain in the courtyard as she went. Her sister, Princess Anna, ran after her and in order to get away Queen Elsa ran into the cove, the water turning to ice beneath her feet.” 

Arendelle stories. 

She had given in and bought a copy of her mother's book to read to Jack, and then again to Olivia. But her fingers had hesitated on the spine when packing and Julia ultimately decided to leave it behind. Jack apparently had then selected it for his own personal bag.

Her children had no idea that they were reading anything other than a legend. That Queen Elsa was actually their great-great-grandmother. 

They could have had a life in the English Court, being waited on and wearing fancy clothes. But she doubted the smiles on their faces, as they sat there in patched clothes over a worn book, would be as great. 

Still, she supposed she understood the importance of those stories now. They were entertainment. They tied Jack and Olivia to others via shared knowledge, not shared culture, like everyone who had knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays were connected. There was nothing wrong with that, instead it was comforting. 

Julia listened to Jack read and she could hear her Great Aunt Anna reaching through the generations to tell the story in her ear. The stories were a little different, Anna told it from a first hand experience, but the basics were the same. The knowledge and connection were the same.

Hands sneaked around her waist and Julie tilted her head back to see Will behind her. “They reading that book again? You should not have taught them how to read, they'll get no books in the colonies.”

“They'll have that one. It should be enough.”

* * *

“After you, Queen Elsa.”

Julia tried to hide her smile as Jack bowed Olivia out of the house so they could go play in the early spring flurry. She just knew that Olivia would throw 'snowballs' and Jack would pretend to dodge ice blasts. Will had joined in on the make-believe game when he was alive, but he hadn't survived the second winter and so the family was settling into colonial life without him. 

Jack had tried to take the oxen and plow to the fields himself, with little success. At thirteen, he didn't have the arm strength to press the metal into the tough ground. Julia supposed she should see about having him become an apprentice. While their settlement was small and mainly farmers, there was a town not too far away with tradesmen. She and Olivia could follow and being well taught Julia could be a teacher.

But such a decision would split the family, Jack living with his master instead of them. Watching her children play outside, she couldn't bear to separate them so soon after their father's death. She'd wait a year, and next spring they'd move when the grief wasn't so strong. They could get by helping the other families and selling the bit of milk and eggs their animals produced. 

Next spring, after Jack's fourteenth birthday, they'd move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The time line of this fic is entirely based on RotG dates, as they're more definite. Also, it limits the amount of people I have to worry about in Elsa's line XD 
> 
> Thus, Frozen takes place during the Early Modern Period. More specifically, near the beginning of the Thirty Years War. Ish. So roughly 1600. (Though I think Disney based Arendelle on a earlier time period. Oh well, this be fanficion!) Julia's part takes place late 1600s and she moves to America in 1709. My head canon says Jack and his sister were born before the immigration, and it was the boat trip that triggered Jack's liking of ocean life and why Sandy's sand displays dolphins instead of winter scenes for him. So he was born 1698.
> 
> The Spanish Inquisition (though there were two others), which did punish people for sorcery, was from 1478 – 1834, and in my mind had an influence on Arendelle's neighbors and their opinion of Elsa's powers. Especially since the Early Modern Period also overlapped with the Age of Absolution, that is, the rise of monarch power. It was unrestrained by churches or legislative bodies and the influence of nobility decreased as power was consolidated with a state's monarch. With Queens having more power, and discovering your's (or your neighbor's) is a witch would be a huge upset. Anna and her family go to England, because most of the Inquisitions were in Continental Europe.
> 
> Despite the talk of the 13 Original Colonies, most of colonized America in 1700 was under French Control, so Julia leaves from there.
> 
> All my information is from, of course, Wikipedia ^_^ Great site that is. 
> 
> Court life and the like however, I completely made up. I have no idea what really happens to royalty whose kingdoms are no more.


	3. Sophie

SOPHIE

“What's this?” Jack asked, stepping into Jamie's room and looking over the brunette's shoulder. 

“A family tree. We have to trace our ancestors for social studies as far back as we can. I've managed to go pretty far,” Jamie tapped a name on a notebook near his elbow. “Hector DePonte is from here before Burgess was Burgess, isn't that awesome?”

Jack however ignored Hector for the line underneath. _Married to Olivia Overland._

“Jamie,”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have any more information on Olivia Overland?”

Jamie used his pencil to scratch along side his ear. “I don't think so, why?”

“That was my sister's name.”

“Wait, are you saying we're related? You're not just my big brother, you're my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great - “ he paused for breath, “great-great-great-great-great-great- um....uncle? Grandfather?” Jamie flipped pages of the notebook. “I just sorta got carried away to see how many people I could say I was related to, because you never know it if you're like, related to a King of England or something. So I'm not entirely sure how we're related. But it's cool just knowing we are.”

Jack ruffled Jamie's hair. 

“It could be another Olivia Overland.”

“From the 1700s? Who lived in this area?”

“Okay, probably not. Let's see if we can go a bit further though. If you find Olivia's mom is named Julia, than it's the right one.”

Jamie looked at his watch and then slumped his head onto the desk. “Town Hall is closed, I can't get to the public records. “

“That's okay. We can-”

“Jack!” Sophie bounded into the room with all the hyperness of a nine year old who'd been sneaking cookies from the cookie jar. Actually, judging by the crumbs around her mouth she had done just that. 

The blonde girl came over to give Jack a hug around the waist. “When did you get here?”

“Just now. Jamie was explaining his family tree to me.”

“Did you know we might actually be related to Jack?”

“No way!”

“Believe it kiddo.”

* * *

Sophie insisted on joining Jamie and Jack in their quest. While Jamie went looking through dusty books, she helped Jack create his own family tree.

“So your mom was Julia Overland and your dad was William Overland. And you had one sister, Olivia.”

“That's right.” 

Sophie nodded and then drew lines from Jack's parents upward. “What about your grandparents?”

“Well, on my father's side there was Jackson, I was named after him, and Marie, uh, I'm not sure what her maiden name was. She took on the name Overland and everyone called her that. Something with an S though?” Jack frowned from his position on the corner of the table. Sophie was glad the public records room at Town Hall was a lot less crowded than the public library. He'd probably be knocked over several time by now due to people bumping his shoulder. As it was, there was only three occupants and so Sophie didn't have to worry about adults thinking she was talking to herself. 

“What about on your mom's side?”

“I, uh, I never met them. And Mom never talked about them either. “

“Really?”

“It wasn't that uncommon. Moving from France to America was a bigger deal then than it is now, you loose touch with people. But even when we lived in Europe, she never mentioned them. I figured she was an orphan. Europe had a lot of conflicts, its possible.”

“That's sad.”

“Yeah, Sophie, yes it is.” Jack called up a snowflake on the tip of his finger and then tapped her nose. She giggled.

The public records room also didn't mind if you were loud. Much better than the library. 

“Found something!” Jamie came from around a shelf, the book in his arms huge and cumbersome. Jack flew over to help.

“You sure we should even be touching this? Shouldn't it be, like, behind glass and only touched with gloves or something?”

“Oof!” Jamie set the book down on the desk and Sophie sneezed at all the dust. “Maybe? But I'm glad it's not, otherwise I'd never find this. It's not actually from Burgess, even before it was named, but from a smaller settlement. Look.”

He opened the cover and pointed to a map on the first page. Centered was the pond and not far from it in the woods was a small settlement named DuBouis. In the bottom left hand corner was a town that Sophie knew from her social studies unit was the original Burgess. Of course, it had been called Macomb back then, and then had burned down in a fire, and a few decades later Burgess had been founded where it was now. 

“When Burgess was founded, I think DuBouis became a part of it. Or maybe like Macomb it was built over after people moved away. Doesn't matter. But this book is a ledger from DuBouis's church. There's records of marriages, births, and deaths. I found Olivia's name in a Macomb record, cuz she got married there, and I thought maybe she'd be here. Didn't find her, but I did find this.” Jamie flipped to a page he had marked with a candy wrapper.

“See? William Overland, died 1710, coughing sickness. That was your dad, right Jack?”

“Yeah,” Jack said in a quite voice and both Bennetts turned to see him curl into himself.

“Oh, sorry Jack. I'm being insensitive, I was just so excited at the thought that we're related-”

Jack cut him off by throwing one arm around him and another around Sophie. She squeaked as she was pulled into a hug. “Nah, I'm pretty happy about it too. This means we truly are a family.”

“Best family ever,” Sophie said.

Jack chuckled. “You got that right.”

* * *

“I'm related to Jack Frost,” Sophie boasted to her group mates in class the next day.

“Nu-unh!” Madison Osborne said. “He's a spirit, he can't be related to people.”

“Can too! He was a boy before he was a Jack Frost. His name was Jackson Overland.”

“Like Overland Pond?” James asked and Sophie had to pause. She never asked him about that. 

“Yes, it's named after him.”

“That's so cool.”

“You're just making that up,” Conner said.

“No! Jamie had to do a family tree project, and we went to the public records room in Town Hall and everything. We're related to Jack Frost.”

“I still don't believe it.”

Sophie gripped her pencil hard. “Well you should.”

James gasped and Madison leaned across her desk to stare at Sophie's hand. The pencil was covered in frost.

“Sophie, how did you do that?” Madison asked, snapping up the pencil as Sophie dropped it.

“Told you, Jack Frost is my great-great-great, uh, 27th great uncle.” Or something. They hadn't actually counted.

* * *

“Jamie, Jamie look at this!” Sophie said as she met up with her brother at the doors of the school. She proudly held out a handful of frozen pens.

“Did Jack come visit you in class?”

“Even better!” She snagged Jamie's pencil case from his backpack's front pouch.

“Hey!” her brother protested, until his eyes opened wide as the fabric frosted over. It crunched when he press it with a finger. “That's awesome! Can you teach me?”

Sophie wrinkled her nose. “Maybe? I just sorta do it. I don't know if I can teach you.”

“This is totally proof that we're related to Jack Frost. You have to show him.”

* * *

“Bunny!” Sophie shouted in glee as the spirit showed up for a visit. She threw her arms open to walk down the porch steps to greet him. To her surprise, and his, the ground under his feet iced.

“Jack!” Bunny turned around, looking for the other spirit and Jamie shook his head at the rabbit in amusement. He came to join Sophie on the steps.

“That's Sophie's doing.”

“What?”

“We're related to Jack!” Sophie bounced on her toes. “And because of that, I have ice powers!” She waved her hands at another spot on the grass and more ice appeared. “Isn't this cool?”

Bunny just stood staring and then shook himself. 

“No way. It doesn't work like that. Even if you're related to the person Jack was before he became a spirit, you shouldn't have ice powers. He has them because of the magic Manny gave him. Not...not genetics.”

Sophie humphed. “You don't know everything Bunny.”

Bunny shook his head, ignoring her and muttering to himself. Sophie looked at Jamie, who looked just as confused. Bunny was still muttering when he called up a tunnel. “I'll be back,” he said and jumped through it. 

The Bennett children just stood there blinking.

* * *

An hour later, Sophie and Jamie were making a snack in the kitchen when they saw the light of the portal show up in the backyard.

“What gives?!” They heard Jack hit the ground with an 'oof' and ran out the door. Sophie guessed, by Jack's position sprawled on the grass and the other Guardians standing tall that he had been forced through rather suddenly. 

“Look at the grass, Frostbite.”

“It's grass. So it's green.”

True enough, Sophie noticed. Her frost from before had melted.

“Jack! Jack look!” She waited for him to get to his feet before stomping on the second porch step. Jamie jumped back onto the porch while Jack leaned in closer to look at the repeating snowflakes that had covered the wood. The other Guardians gasped, some in surprise and other in wonder.

“Sophie, how did you do that?” Tooth asked.

“It's cuz Jack's my ancestor.”

“I really don't think it works that way.”

“Bunny is right,” North said, coming forward to take Sophie's hands. “Jack has magic cuz he is spirit. You, you are human.”

“So?”

“So,” North turned to look at Jack, who was still observing the frost under Sophie feet. “Very clever trick, Jack Frost. Working with children to prank Bunny.”

Sophie started pouting immediately. “Jack didn't do it! I did!”

“She's right, I didn't do anything.” Jack floated up to the porch rail. “We'll even test it. Sandy, take this.” He held out his staff and the Dream Guardian took it. For good measure, Sandy moved back so he was hovering just outside the backyard fence, high enough to watch.

Sophie jumped to the next step, and again ice bloomed under her feet. As she knew it would.

“Look at you Sophie! A regular Queen Elsa.”

“Queen Elsa?” Tooth asked, looking between the two of them. 

“Who's that?” Jamie asked at the same time.

Jack clutched his hands over his heart and fell backwards, landing on his feet before hitting the porch floor. “I know stories change and such, but I would have thought for sure her story would last. Especially here. I brought the book over myself and shared her story with all the kids in...what did you say the settlement was Jamie? Do something.”

“DuBouis,” the teen supplied. 

“Yeah, that. Anyway, Queen Elsa. The Snow Queen of Arendelle. Ring any bells?”

All the Guardians shook there heads no. 

“Huh.” Jack said, taking his staff back from Sandy. “There was a whole book on legends from the country that Olivia and I read as kids, one of the few personal items I brought from France. By the time we came over on the boat, the country didn't exit any more.”

Sophie and Jamie swarmed to Jack's side. “Tell us about Elsa!”

“Well, she was born with ice powers. And her sister Anna loved them. Anna had this habit of waking Elsa up before dawn and convincing her sister to turn the ballroom into a winter paradise. They'd make snowmen, freeze the floor so they could go skating, and then one day-”

Bunny shook his head, staring at the three youngsters. “You believe any of this stuff?” He asked his friends. 

Sandy signed no, and Tooth shook her head. “It sounds like a great story though. I'll have to get him to tell me some legends later.”

“I am not sure it be just story.” They all turned to look at North, Sophie and Jamie still listening to Jack's story who was illustrating it with ice figures. “Jack is right, Arendelle was real country. Was attacked by other countries for many years because queen was thought to be a witch.”

“Like a real witch, or just suspected? Jack's from the Inquisition era and the Salem Witch trials period. They weren't too picky.”

“Who can say? We all know how stories shift and change.” He gave a significant look towards Bunny who would have rather not had a reminder of the days when he was a normal sized rabbit.

* * *

“Whee!” Sophie spread her arms wide and skated on the pond. Jack had frozen it, she couldn't create anything that thick, but she had made the thin blades on her's and Jamie's shoes. 

“This is awesome Sophie,” Jamie admitted, pushing past her and then attempting a hockey stop that result in a face plant. Laughing, Jack skated backwards towards him and then set him on his feet again. 

“Sure you're not a little jealous your sister has powers and you don't?”

“Well, maybe a little.” Jamie stuck his tongue out at Sophie who stuck hers out right back at him. “But I'll deal with it if you don't call me Princess Anna.”

“Of course not!” Sophie said, coming up next to them. “I'm Elsa and she was the older one. If anything you're...”

“Kristoff? Olaf? Man, don't say Sven.”

“I was going to say Mattias. You know, one of the founders of Arendelle? Master ship builder?”

“He did win a couple battles if my lore is correct,” Jack threw out.

“Freed the people of the fjord from a mountain troll, according to book.”

All three of them spun around to see North on the edge of the pond, an old book in his hand. Sophie looked around for the sleigh, but didn't see it. 

“Is that?” Jack flew over quickly to peer at the book, Sophie and Jamie following more sedately on their skates. 

“Book of Arendelle stories. Yeti found in library. There's a few about Queen Elsa, and this Mattias. One about how they royal family escaped too.”

“Yeah, on gold ships.”

“Let me see!” Sophie stomped on the ground, breaking her ice skates and pulled on North's arm so he lowered the book. “Who's Hannah?”

“The last Queen of Arendelle,” Jack said. “She was alive when I was, living in England.”

“Huh.” Jamie unabashedly pulled the book out of North's hands and plopped on his butt in the grass to start reading. Sophie instantly sat at her brother's side, and as had become the norm the past few years he started reading out loud to her. 

She was vaguely aware of Jack and North talking a bit of a ways off, but that didn't matter. The stories Jack had shared with them this past month took on a new sense of solidness seeing them in print with pencil sketches every so often. Jack's ice people were better, and things she would learn to do someday, but this book was proof. It was the difference between knowing the Easter Bunny left eggs and helping him paint them. Not that she had doubted her much older, frosty brother. But sometimes, he was full of it.

There was a rumble in the distance, an approaching thunderstorm.

“All right kids, go home before you and that book gets wet. It's older than the records in Town Hall.”

Sophie laughed, brushing dirt off her pants. 

“Go give some other kids a snow day in like, Alaska.” Jamie said. “You've been down here with us even though spring's creeping in.”

“What can I say?” Jack ruffled his hair. “You're family. I'll see you guys later.”

Sophie stuck her hand out and Jack sank to a knee to kiss the back of it. “Until I return, Queen Elsa.” She giggled and Jack grinned at her.

“Now go! That book needs to be kept dry, North said.”

“Bye!” she waved as she and Jamie took off at a jog towards the house.

* * *

Mr. Mars clapped his hands to get the classes attention. "We've been studying the history of the United States and learned a little bit about our founding fathers. So now, I want you all to write a two page biography on a founding father, or mother, of a different country. Clear your desks, and then we'll head to the library."

Hastily, Sophie brushed her math worksheet into her desk and then lined up at the door. Once all the students were in line, Mr. Mars turned off the light and led them down the hall and past the cafeteria to the library. 

Conner leaned across the space between the boy's and girl's lines to whisper. "What country are you thinking?"

"No talking in the hallways," Mr. Mars said, sending a glare Conner's way. Sophie silently giggled at him. Once they were in the library, they could talk.

As the class entered, Mrs. Chambers pointed to a few round tables with books laid out on them. "The left table has history books on other countries, the right one has the biographies of important people. And of course, if you want to write your paper on someone else talk to me and I'll help you find a book."

"Before we leave, I want you all to have picked a person to study," their teacher said and Sophie's class swarmed the book tables.

"So?" Conner said, "What country are you thinking?"

"She'll probably want to get permission to do a special report on Jackson Overland."

Sophie stuck her tongue out at James. "I can't do Jack, he's not a founding father. He was just a colonist."

"Plus," Madison added from across the table. "I think that's cheating cuz she wouldn't have to do research, just talk to Jack."

"Interviews are research," James insisted. "Think any of the Guardians are founding fathers?"

They all looked at each other and then shrugged. "I don't think so," Sophie said. "Besides, I want to do my report on Queen Elsa."  
Madison rolled her eyes. "Of course you do."

There was however no book on Arendelle on the tables so Sophie made her way to Mrs. Chambers behind the check out counter. "What can I help you with?"

"Do you have anything on Arendelle?"

"Hmm, let me check." She typed into the computer for a bit but then shook her head. "No sorry. Do you know where it is?"

Actually, Sophie didn't. All she knew about Arendelle came from North's book of tales, and Queen Hannah had only mentioned she was currently living in the English court. "Europe?" she guessed.

"I've got some general books on European history, let's go look that those."

Sophie followed Mrs. Chambers as she pulled books off the shelves and handed them to her. That done, Sophie took her five books to an empty table and started looking through the table of contents. Mr. Mars said that was the best way to find out if a book had information you wanted. 

None of them had a chapter on Arendelle, but the thickest book had a chapter titled 'Other European Countries' and a using a trick Jamie had taught her she flipped to the back to check the index. Arendelle was mentioned on two pages. 

She flipped to them. Sophie wanted to do her report on Queen Elsa, of course, but was she pretty sure Elsa wasn't the first queen. And indeed, in the two little paragraphs in the book it was Mattias and his wife Lisanna who had been the first rulers. 

Making the page with her fingers, Sophie took the book to Mr. Mars. "Can I do the first king of Arendelle?"

"Arendelle?" he echoed and Sophie's chest swelled at the thought that her teacher didn't know about the country. He wouldn't be checking her essay, he'd be learning from it. In answer, she showed him the brief book passage.

"Don't you want to pick someone that more well known? It would make your biography easier to research."

She shook her head. "Nope. I want to do King Mattias."

"Okay then. I'll see if Mrs. Chambers can't find something on the Internet to help you with your research."

"Thanks, Mr. Mars."

* * *

"Arg," Sophie groaned, head hitting the book on her desk. Jamie had warned her during their trip to the library that the books she wanted would be to hard for her and he was right. She wanted to demand he read them to her, but he was busy studying for a math test tomorrow and that was more important. He could read to her tomorrow night.

"What's up, kiddo?"

"Jack! Help me with my homework, please!" She turned to look at him and brought her hands together under her chin, begging. "I don't understand this."

"Okay, okay," Jack laughed, floating through the window. He flipped to the front cover of the book. "A brief history of Europe's early countries, why are you reading this?"

"For school," she whined. "My teacher said we had to do a biography of people who helped establish a foreign country and I chose Arendelle."

"Of course."

"But it was such a tiny country! Jame and I checked out every book in the public library that mentioned it," she waved a hand over the seven books on the edge of her desk, "but none of them give me a lot of detail about King Mattias."

"This calls for the tried and true method of writing essays - making things up."

"Jack, I can't do that!"

"Why not? I'd do it all the time."

"And when you got caught?"

"Yeah, Mom would not give me dinner. Maybe that's a bad idea."

Sophie laughed. "Can you just, I don't know, read these to me? I don't know a lot of the words and can't tell what's important."

"Anything for my sister. You got a pen and paper ready to take notes?" 

Sophie scrambled to get the supplies ready and the nodded. Jack nodded back and began pacing up and down the length of her room while reading the parts about Arendelle.

* * *

Sophie had never worked harder on a school assignment in her life. But she felt a kinship to Queen Elsa, and thus Arendelle, so her biography was more than two pages of clunky handwriting and a number in Mr. Mars's grade book. It was a tribute, like the Burgess stature in the corner of the park, and so it had to be perfect.

She would have been sooo lost without the Internet. 

Mr. Mars had been surprised when she insisted on sticking with Mattias and smiled proudly at her when she turned in her paper. Not two pages, like he as asked for, but a full five because she had made it her duty to learn everything possible about the king. And retell the story of his fight with a mountain troll. It was totally real. 

During their silent reading time in the afternoon, Mr. Mars called her to his desk. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a DVD case. "I'm impressed with your dedication to research Sophie, and since you seem so interested in Arendelle I managed to get a hold of a documentary you might like. Have you heard of the Russian princess Anastasia?" 

Sophie nodded. "I've seen the movie."

"Apparently, Arendelle has a missing princess too." He handed over the DVD. The cover was of a family portrait and the title proclaimed the BBC documentary was called _The Runaway Princess._

Sophie took it eagerly. She hadn't heard anything about a runaway princess, just that the royal family had died out. 

"Bring it back Monday."

"I will."

* * *

Jamie groaned as Sophie pushed the DVD into his hands as they walked home. "Arendelle again, Soph? The stories are awesome, but knowing the history it not as fun."

"I think it is. And Queen Hannah wrote that those stories aren't just stories - they're true." To illustrate her point, she touched her brother's elbow and froze the fabric covering it. They had to be true, because people with magic powers existed.

"Fine, I'll watch it with you this weekend. But not tonight! It's my week to pick the Friday Night Movie and it's not going to be educational."

"It's gonna be that disaster movie about a blizzard, isn't it?" 

"I wish. But since it's PG-13 Mom will say no." He mock glared at her and Sophie crossed her arms in a huff. 

"Not my fault I'm nine. Or mom has that stupid rule. Other kids in my class watch PG-13 movies."

Sophie stuffed the movie in her backpack again and after a block spoke up. "We should invite Jack to watch the Arendelle movie with us. He'd like it."

Jamie rolled his eyes, but nodded. "He'd also be happy to hear how you did on your biography. I know he's been helping you with it."

Sophie wrinkled her nose. "His spelling is awful."

Jamie laughed. "He's from a long time ago. They spelled things differently then. Didn't you noticed when we were in the records room at Town Hall? I'm surprised he doesn't speak with 'thee' and 'thou'."

"Oh my god, can we totally do that next time we see him?" Sophie bounced ahead to walk backwards in front of Jamie.

"Sure," he smiled back at her. "We'll stick a note on our window tonight for Sandy to give to Jack, and write it in Old English."

* * *

Sunday morning was a grand movie premier. While Mrs. Bennett went to church every Sunday morning, now that Jamie was old enough to stay home alone and watch Sophie it was an optional excursion for the kids. They went more often than not, but on the mornings their mother went by herself it was the perfect chunk of time to have the Guardians over for a couple of hours. Mrs. Bennett always insisted on no guests while she was gone, but Jack was family, not a guest, and the others were invisible to adults so Jamie figured they didn't count.

Sophie never argued that. 

Jack hadn't been the only one interested in the movie, North had been as well. And then Baby Tooth had convinced Tooth to come too and from there Bunny and Sandy had shrugged and came as well. 

It made for a crowded couch, but Sophie didn't mind. 

Of course, none of them expected that five minutes into the movie Jack would explode from his seat, point at the screen, and incredulously say, "That's my mom."

Jamie instantly paused the film. "What?"

"That's my mom. I swear. That painting is a stunning likeness of her. Even if it's of her as a child. That's her."

Everyone in the room looked from the blown up painted face on the TV screen to Jack's face and back. Sophie had to admit, they looked more than just a bit alike. He was almost a spitting image of the man standing behind Julia, her father King Igmar.

"I thought you said you were a colonist," Tooth said.

"Well, yeah. And Mom was on the boat with us. But she never talked about her family before marrying Pop. She certainly wasn't French."

"And her name was Julia." Jamie nodded.

"Don't jump to conclusions, mate."

"Yes, let us watch movie," North seconded, sneaking a hand into Sandy's bag of popcorn.

Jack sat back down, not on the couch but the floor in front of the TV and Sophie went to join him.

But the end of the movie, they were all pretty sure that Jack's proclamation had been right. Princess Julia had disappeared from the English court while it was in France, and Queen Hannah's private journal, which the movie made not so private, talked about a trip Hannah had taken to a French port city to speak with her daughter. Who had married and had a child named Jackson. Hannah's writing expressed her anger at her daughter, so none of them were surprised when the movie went on to say something along the lines of that being the last known communication with Princess Julia of Arendelle. 

Not a single one of them paid attention to the last twenty minutes of speculation on what Julia's life had been after she left the court or who might have been her under a fake name. Instead, the were all staring at Jack who looked at the TV with a dazed look. The movie's conjectures were all wrong anyway. The truth, that she had married a merchant's son, moved to America with her husband and two children, and that one of the children had drowned in a lake and became the Guardian of Fun, was radically different from all the options the documentary explored.

"Yer a prince?!"

"We're related to the royal family of Arendelle?!"

"I'm related to Queen Elsa!"

Jack just blinked at them all.

* * *

It was awhile after that Sophie next saw Jack. It was no fault of his own, Spring came out in full force and Summer kept him up north. It was in late August when he was finally able to return to Burgess and Sophie was bursting with questions.

The three of them, Jack, Jamie, and Sophie, were sitting on the roof thanks to Jack and eating ice cream. 

"Bunny says I get my ice powers from Elsa and not you," Sophie said around a mouthful of cookie dough.

"Makes sense."

"Do you know if any one else had her powers?" 

Jack shook his head. "No clue. I mean, I've pretty much just hung around Burgess for three hundred years and never saw anyone use them. Doesn't mean someone didn't have them though."

"What's it feel like to be a prince?" Jamie asked. 

Jack shrugged. "No different than being a colonist. Or regular Jack Frost. Aside from the wide eyed stare Bunny gives me. Or Baby Tooth hinting that since technically Tooth's a queen and I'm a prince we should hook up."

"You totally should!" Sophie squealed.

"We'll see."

"Are you upset you didn't get to be a prince, since your mom gave up her title?" Jamie continued. 

"Not really. I had a happy life. Still do. If Mom had stayed with the court, I wouldn't be here."

"Can't have that," Sophie said, linking her arm through Jack's. "What sucks though is that we can't tell anyone that you're a prince and we're related to royalty. No one would believe us." 

"What? Why?"

"Cuz all the important people don't believe in you."

"Yeah, Mom just rolled her eyes when we told her and praised our active imagination." Jamie rolled his own eyes. 

"Well then, just tell your friends. And your future kids. Many, many, many generations ago your family ruled a kingdom."

"And now some of use can use magic." Sophie added, freezing the ice cream soup in the bottom of Jack's bowl.

"That too," he said, returning the favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, Sophie's chapter is lo~ong. And thus ends this story. I'd love to know what you guys think, and news of future stories can always be found on my tumblr account.


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